By Kimberly Ramkhalawan
April 28, 2023
It’s been just over a year and a half since Kenesjay Green signed on to an MOU for a green hydrogen country assessment to set in motion development of Dominica’s green hydrogen geothermal project.
The signing took place in Glasgow, Scotland, venue of the COP 26 meeting where much discussion surrounded the reduction of each country’s carbon footprint and ways it could still maintain its energy producing capabilities in more green and efficient ways.
Fast forward to April 2023, the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica is keeping to its word, by signing a Framework Agreement for the joint venture, that will initiate the first large-scale green hydrogen geothermal development in the Caribbean. This milestone agreement represents a material step taken by a Caribbean Island to monetise its significant geothermal resources on a large scale, through its generation of green hydrogen and green electricity both for export and local consumption.
Philip Julien, Founder Chairman, Kenesjay Green Limited remarked the ‘What ifs’ of the project which has signaled Dominica into taking this path, where it conducted several assessment reports which resulted in the ‘Why not’, with the upsides weighing tremendously in the country’s favour.
Julien remarked, that for the first time in the Caribbean there is the potential for a surplus of untapped green energy in countries such as Dominica, so much to be considered as supply for an existing green energy demand in the world, and commercially viable in nearby Trinidad and Tobago.
However, he is careful to mention that this green energy and its geothermal focus is not just exclusive to Dominica, but one the entire world can use forcing it to be a ‘global game changer’. Julien remarks that for any Caribbean country considering how it can create a renewable green energy project, to a scale that permits it to be economically viable and also have a large support market, the green market has opened its door, with the potential in their hands waiting for it to be realized explored and de-risked.
As to what the latest signing mean, Julien says marks the “transition phase from Dominica’s policy of setting targets and establishing the requisites of public private partnerships, to the next phase of accelerated action through additional de-risking work that multi-lateral banks and other financial institutions are looking for and to for the funding in a structured construct”.
He underscored his firmly belief, that the Caribbean’s infrastructure for energy once successfully interconnected can lead to one of the largest hubs for renewable energy and green hydrogen globally.
Francine Baron, Chief Executive Officer, Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica (CREAD) says the signing allows for a cooperation agreement to manage a GCF-funded feasibility analysis called green industrial eco-park in north of the island.
She says doing this catalyzes original grid-integration and drive further low-carbon development to a net zero region. The project signed onto is said to have signaled the construction of one in six geothermal zones.
The plant is expected to work at a 200-250MWatts Capacity, with hopes of it going up to 400MWatts, with a production of 27 to 30,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year, as well as 240 to 250,000 tonnes of oxygen per year, and the capability to produce 150 to 160 tonnes of ammonia annually.
And with five zones on the cards, she says the government has been on a drive to underscore the importance of green or geothermal energy to the country withina five-year time period.
Dominica, a Caribbean island with land space of less than 300 square miles, has a potential capacity to develop over 1GW of geothermal power, and its Government has been seeking to pursue a Green Hydrogen Industrial Development Programme in the pursuit of sustainable economic growth in the face of global realities, in particular climate change.
Also party to the Agreement is the Dominica Geothermal Development Company Limited (DGDC), a state-owned special purpose vehicle to spearhead activities leading to the harness of geothermal resources for the primary purpose of production and sale of industrial energy commodities within and outside of the Commonwealth of Dominica.
Kenesjay Green Dominica Limited (KGDL), a subsidiary of Kenesjay Green Limited, which is a project development company indigenous to the Caribbean that focuses on the development of industrial scale decarbonisation projects for the Caribbean. Kenesjay Green is currently developing the $250M USD NewGen Hydrogen Project that is to be located in the Point Lisas Industrial Estate of Trinidad and Tobago.